Continued technology advancements have provided an increasing proliferation of the various types and numbers of peripheral devices that can be networked to a computer. Such peripheral devices can include printers, photocopiers (“copiers”), video recording devices (e.g., digital video recorders), audio recording devices (e.g., MP3 recorders), televisions and other audio/video devices. Because of the number of peripherals that a user may utilize from time-to-time, the peripherals may be left powered-on between use and may even be left powered-on during long periods of non-use, such as overnight and throughout weekends. Because some peripherals consume relatively large amounts of power while operating and their operational life is reduced while powered-on, some peripheral devices automatically transition from a higher power operational state to a lower power sleep state after a defined duration of non-use.
For example, laser printers and copiers typically employ high temperature fuser assemblies to permanently adhere toner to paper. The heating elements that warm the fuser assemblies can consume substantial electrical energy and, therefore, powering the heater elements whenever a laser printer/copier is turned on but idle can be wasteful.
It has generally been known to cause some types of peripherals, such as printers and copiers, to enter a power save mode after a certain period of inactivity. For instance, after a period of about one hour of non-use, a printer or copier may transition from a higher power operational state to a lower power sleep state in which their fuser assemblies (heater elements) are powered-off. Depending on the particular printer/copier, the warm-up period for the fuser assembly may range from one to several minutes or more. This warm-up period may be considered unsatisfactory to a user who, for example, has sent a print job to a printer/copier and is now idly standing by the printer/copier awaiting completion of the print job.